I wanted to share my thoughts about those gardeners, past and present, who have and still do inspire me. It should be pointed out that gardening for me is a little like breathing or eating, it is essential to my wellbeing and helps give me balance and perspective.
I’ve been a hobby gardener for more than 30 years now but I do have to admit that until I embarked upon this project I was more of a perennial gardener with an especial love for Delphiniums, lupins and phlox. When we started this project we were very conscious of the fact that although this garden was on a mountain it was pretty empty, in fact, if you were to lift the garden like a table cloth and lay it flat it would have been mostly empty. What it really needed was some structure and some intimate garden spaces or rooms, so I started reading and researching, this has led to the discovery of 2 famous English garden designers of the past, both women and some modern day heroes, one of which comes from the same county as me in England.
So here we go!
Gertrude Jekyll, a truly inspirational Edwardian woman who defined how many of us garden today with her inspiration use of plants as an artists palette.
Vita Sackville-West, a passionate garden and the creator of Sissinghurst Castle gardens
Monty Don, the host of BBC’s Gardeners World and all round great guy. He inspires me with his down to earth approach to gardening and to life.
Carol Klein, passionate and enthusiastic gardener who taught me (via her books and TV appearances) how to collect seeds, propagate seeds, take cuttings and generally not be afraid to give it a go and save lots of money in the process.